At a Distance
by Pokann
Summary: Hiro thinks helping out at his aunt's successful café is a bore, up until a robotics student from his school decides to regularly visit the café. NotBrothers!AU/Hiro is older to fit the pairing. Tadashi/Hiro.
1. Display Cases

Author: Pokann

Rating: T

Warnings: mild language, BL(Boys love)/Homosexuality.

Disclaimer: all rights belong to their respective owners.

Summary: Hiro thinks helping out at his aunt's successful café is a bore, up until a robotics student from his school decides to regularly visit the café. NotBrothers!AU/Hiro is older to fit the pairing.

Tadashi/Hiro.

* * *

><p>Sighing loudly and drumming thin fingers against the marble countertop, the young male tiredly watched as his caretaker, and aunt, flipped the closed sign to display the word "open". As she passed she ruffled the hair of the pouting male.<p>

"Don't look so down, Hiro, you're the one who wanted a distraction," he had to admit, albeit stubbornly, that his aunt was correct after all. He _did_ want a distraction from his inventions; the stress was eating at him. Hiro wasn't expecting to work at the café though; was expecting more of a trip to New Yosaka, or even the museum his aunt takes him to on occasion.

Glancing at the display window, he watched as regulars and newcomers piled into Lucky Cat Café. His sight passed them however as he stared at how beautiful the day was; cloudless and not too hot, a perfect day to test out his newly made helicopter toy. That sounded at least better than sitting at the counter and taking the orders to his aunt in the kitchen, or opening the display case to pick out a baked good.

While telling a troubled mother he didn't mind the wailing of her child, a group of five walked in through the door, chattering happily. The line cleared and he stood slumped against the counter again, leaning his forearms on the marble as he waited for another customer. His aunt playfully pulled at his cheek as she passed and skilfully weaved through the tables, laying down the morning's special in front of a couple. She lightly scolded him about his body language when she waltzed back to work in the kitchen. At this he flashed a sarcastic smile which disappeared a moment afterwards.

A loud laugh and squeal caught his attention and he turned to a table on his far left, watching a tall blonde enforce a group selfie with her four friends. He chuckled lightly at her actions and yearned to have friends as close as they. Another female, this time with dark hair and a pixie cut, snapped at two males. Hiro picked out the words "woman up" and "order already".

One of the two males leant into his chair as the other got up, eyes trailing over to the counter and accidentally locking eyes with Hiro. He smiled as he approached him, although Hiro had averted his gaze.

"Hey, uh..." his voice drifted to the smaller male and he looked up, a crooked smile tugging its way on his lips.

"Ready to order?" he asked, very awkwardly as he has twiddled his thumbs momentarily. He reached down to fiddle with the handle of the display case, getting ready to open it. The male was definitely taller, at least a head taller, and he had a better build compared to the lanky limbs of Hiro. His tone was soft and Hiro had to imagine him as a very kind and selfless being.

"Yeah, two slices of the apple crumble, three morning wraps," he had paused to glance back at the table, "and five small ice coffees." Hiro had to scramble for a note pad to write down the orders, the words snapping him out of the momentary body scan.

Nodding at the words he scribbled down, he flashed a smile at the taller male.

Hiro asked the taller male for the right amount of money and promised to get the order to his table as quick as he could. But first he watched him greet his friends and sit down, the dark haired woman elbowing him teasingly as she said a few words and flicked her head towards the counter. Hiro was curious but decided to get the order done.

* * *

><p>"He's pretty cute, right?" an elbow dug into the male's side and he stared at the shorter female, having a pretty good idea of what she was implying.<p>

"Gogo, no, you stop right there," he gave her a frown and she sighed, not liking the fact that he was practically avoiding the term called 'dating'.

"Come on, Tadashi," she growled and blew a bubble before popping it with a loud snap, "you've been single since sixth grade. And now's your chance, just ask if you can hang out and if you don't feel anything, you don't have to date him."

"Since when have I like guys?"

"Don't change the subject," she looked up from Tadashi's face and raised an eyebrow. Tadashi followed her gaze and spotted the shorter male from earlier making his way to their table, a tray in his hands.

"Two apple crumble slices, three morning wraps, and five small ice coffees, correct?" he smiled shyly as the only blonde male nodded. Hiro set the tray down, "Have a nice day."

Gogo elbowed Tadashi, earning a surprised yelp from him. The shorter male turned around to the sight of the male glaring at the dark haired female whilst rubbing his side. Tadashi felt the eyes of Hiro on the back of his head and turned around, smiling sheepishly as their eyes met.

"Sorry about that, my friend just wanted to ask you something," Gogo spoke up, as coolly as ever, and shot a short glare at Tadashi.

"Oh! Yeah! Uh, Fred?" he looked at the blonde male for help and gestured to Hiro with his eyes. Fred caught on and stretched out his arms.

"I'm in need of a hug little man, your wraps are so good," as if it emphasise his point, he practically gulped down the rest of his wrap. Hiro shrunk away.

"No thanks, I'm good," he laughed nervously and turned to walk away. It wasn't because the blonde male had shown his love for the wrap so weirdly, but the fact that he was going to hug someone he had never met sent shivers around his body. Hiro was never one for the physical attention, and hugs weren't his type of thing.

Tadashi was grateful for Fred's quick thinking but scaring the kid away wasn't really what he was thinking.

And despite Gogo's attempts, Tadashi didn't ask the shorter male out the entire time they stayed at the café.

* * *

><p>Hiro was more than happy to finally close down for the night, he had his fair share of wailing babies and loud teenagers and he just wanted to sleep. Locking the door and flipping the sign around, he turned the lights off as he made his way up the stairs. His aunt asked him to clean up and lock up a while ago and Hiro could already hear her snoring, deep into her dreams.<p>

With a loud yawn, he opened the door to his room and undressed, leaving him only in his boxers and shirt. Pushing his slumbering cat off his, very inviting, bed, Hiro flopped onto the sheets, burying his face into the fabric of his pillow.

The bed dipped slightly as his cat jumped back up, squeezing itself into the gap his legs made when bent at the knee. It was something she usually did, and Hiro was fine with it as long as she didn't stretch and involuntarily poke him.

And with that, the cat's purring lulled him to sleep.

* * *

><p>Hiro awoke to the sound of people already entering the café. Rubbing groggily at his eyes he looked at the digital clock beside him. It took his eyes a moment to adjust before it showed him it was five in the morning. Why was Aunt Cass opening the café at such an early hour? He had thought.<p>

Slipping into decent clothing and not bothering to clean his bed, Hiro made his way downstairs to see what caused the early opening. He opened the door, skilfully guiding his way down the stairs after many years of living there, and was greeted by his aunt cooking up orders in the kitchen.

"Morning, Hiro!" she sounded so energetic at such an ungodly hour in the morning, where did all that energy come from?

"Uh, hey Aunt Cass, what's with the early opening?" he moved into the kitchen and was pulled into a hug; hugs from his aunt were accepted although he still felt uncomfortable. "Yesterday I found out that our café was getting popular with kids your age so I changed opening times to five so they could visit in the morning. Visit before school, y'know?"

Hiro nodded and looked at a plate that he assumed was his breakfast. He sat down at the table and sighed.

"I have so many tests today," he whined and Cass cooed, turning the fire down to walk over and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and smiled shakily.

"Don't worry, they won't be hard anyway right? You are my little college man," she laughed and placed a kiss on his forehead, her words attempting and successfully brightening Hiro's morning.

Minutes passed and Hiro finished the breakfast before pushing his chair in and putting the dishes into a dishwasher. Just as he was about to make his way upstairs and start his morning routine, he was stopped by Aunt Cass asking him to bring down a few orders she had just made. And, with a smile, he accepted.

Taking the tray into the café, Hiro visited the certain numbered tables. He made his way to the other side of the café for the last order and looked up at the couple on the table. They were the same males from yesterday, the cap wearing one and the weird blonde one.

"Visiting again?" he smiled, chuckling at the tired expressions on their faces. Someone didn't have a good night.

"Dude, Tadashi made me test his crazy inventions until two," the blonde slurred and looked at Hiro. The other, now dubbed Tadashi perked up slightly once his eyes caught the sight of Hiro and the two cups of coffee.

"Don't worry, Aunt Cass's coffee will wake you up in no time," Hiro felt comfortable talking to a small group of people. He put the two cups on the table and was about to turn away before Tadashi cleared his throat.

"If you don't mind me asking...which school do you go to?" he asked and Fred looked up to watch the two. Hiro stared at him, trying to decide if he should tell him or lie. He couldn't decide, for the seventeen year old valued his privacy and was quite an introverted person; but Tadashi felt like the kind of person he could open up to. Hiro hadn't noticed that Tadashi had taken his silence as discomfort towards his question and cleared his throat again.

"It's...just that you looked familiar, sorry for making you uncomfortable," Tadashi shot him a smile and looked down at the cup in his hand. He inwardly berated himself for being a fool.

Hiro was taken aback and, in fact, if he thought about it, he had thought he'd seen the taller male from somewhere before. Opening and closing his mouth, trying to utter an answer, Hiro felt his cheeks growing hot at how much of a weirdo he must have looked.

"I, um, it's... San Fransokyo Institute of Technology," Hiro didn't bother to hear him answer and walked away hurriedly.

Why did he have to be the kind of person you could open up to?

* * *

><p>Fred raised an eyebrow at the retreating male and then looked at his cap-wearing friend, who in turn looked back at the blonde.<p>

"That was a success," Fred laughed and reached over the table to punch Tadashi's shoulder lightly. "Told you he went to our school, as the mascot I should know everyone's face." The blonde practically glowed with pride.

"Yeah..." Tadashi felt himself smile and stood up, bringing the disposable cup with him. "Should we get going? School will start soon," he picked up his shoulder bag. His blonde friend nodded in return and stood, putting a generous amount of money on the table as a tip, he had to admit the coffee did its job.

The two left the café and Tadashi had tossed a helmet to the mascot, starting up the little red Vespa he owned before zooming off, obviously making sure Fred had been comfortable on the back.

* * *

><p>Hiro held the support pole of the train as it turned the corner, his other hand gripping the strap of his messenger bag tightly. Holding the dangling straps looked easier but he knew he would be too short to comfortably hold on. Being tall right now seemed like a nice idea.<p>

Soon he found the train stopping at SFIT and he hopped off along with many other students. Making a beeline to his locker, Hiro looked down at the notes in his small notebook as he made his way, weaving through the many bodies of older and younger students. Once he reached the steel door of his locker, he entered the code and swung the door open only to have a pile of books he had stuffed in the Friday before tumble out onto the floor.

Huffing angrily he crouched down to pick them up. Hiro didn't expect anyone passing by to help until a bigger hand fell over his. Surprised, he looked up to catch the sight of a smiling Tadashi picking up the remaining scattered books. The two didn't say a word as they put the thick books back into Hiro's locker.

Hiro stuttered out a thanks and looked down at his feet; the height difference put a slight strain on is neck. Tadashi only chuckled lightly and put a hand on his shoulder, "Good luck in classes," he smiled and went on his way. The younger could only stare and looked at his schedule. His first and second classes were free. He could work on his microbots.

Hiro made his way into the lab and pushed open the door to his own private office, looking at the scattered parts of scrapped inventions.

With a sigh, he started on perfecting the microbots.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And so my contribution to the BH6 fandom is finally starting o vo)/ **

**I'll try uploading as frequently as I can and I hope it isn't too boring, I'll try making more Hidashi scenes next chapter, because that's probably what you guys want out of this haha.**

**First fanfic in a while so I apologise if it's a little rusty, need to brush up on my English skills a little more this year v.**

**Reviews feed my poor procrastinating soul so be sure to leave anything in a review! Constructive criticism is accepted.**

'**Till next update  
>-Pokann <strong>


	2. Rain on Windows

The day went by in a blur for Hiro, he'd passed the tests in flying colours and paid no attention to the classes, lunch flew by faster than he expected as well. And with nothing on in his last few classes, Hiro spent the rest of the school day slaving away on his microbots.

Heaving a sigh Hiro looked up at the sky, watching the dark clouds rolling in. He remembered the small television attached onto the train's roof. Although he remembered the pictures flashing onto the screen, Hiro couldn't quite remember if the lady had said it would be a light shower or...something else. He prayed to the heavens it would only be light and short.

But it seemed that the weather was against him once again as the heavy downpour started. The rain pattered against the large, circular window of his office. Right now, the college student was relieved that it was nothing more than just heavy rain for a couple hours; he wouldn't mind staying at the institute to continue working on inventions. But then the thunder and lightning started to come around and suddenly Hiro didn't want to stay at the institute.

Flicking on the light, for he had only been working with the desk lamp up until the rain, it at least helped with the flashing of the lightning. Ever since he was young, Hiro always had trouble coping with thunderstorms and Aunt Cass, who had been his caretaker since the year he turned three, was always there to comfort him. And even though he was a seventeen year old in college, the noise and flashing lights still terrified him. This was probably the primary reason he hated this time of the year.

* * *

><p>Tadashi and his group of friends were seated around a stack of cards, playing a card game that Fred kept stowed away in his bag. A game where Tadashi couldn't help but laugh at and he could laugh freely due to the lack of students in the lab, it also was a good way to kill time and wait out the rain.<p>

"I didn't know Cards against Humanity was going to be this funny," Honey Lemon, who had just been introduced to the game, wiped at her eyes.

"Well it has a good rating for a reason," Gogo let out a chuckle before looking at the tanned male, "what are you staring at Wasabi?"

The addressed male turned towards the speedaholic and frowned, "Didn't everyone in the offices already leave?" as he said this; he jerked his thumb down the hall of offices. While there was the large open space, there was also the hallway with offices down it. They were for privacy purposes.

Curious, Tadashi stood up from his spot and joined Wasabi at the hallway door, and the light in the office at the end of the hall had been turned on.

"Who works at the end of the hall, Fred?" Tadashi looked towards the blonde for an answer but only received a shrug.

"I don't know, man. That person is always there before anyone else and leaves after everyone else," he didn't look up from shuffling through his cards.

"Why don't we invite them? More is always fun, right?" Honey, the only other blonde of the group, liked the thought of her idea and stood to ask, But Wasabi was already on his way down the hall.

It didn't take long for him to reach the door and knock lightly, trying to be as polite as possible. Clearing his throat he waited patiently for the occupant to open the door. Shuffling and movement sounded from the other side of the door and Wasabi could swear he heard sniffling before it opened, and the short teen from behind the café stood in front of him.

Smiling rather awkwardly, Wasabi opened his mouth to speak, "So, uh, we noticed your light on and wanted to ask if you were interested in...Playing a card game with us? It's ok if you don't want to, just wanted to ask, if you want."

The shorter male only stared, a glint of amusement passing through his eyes before it disappeared almost instantly. Looking down, Wasabi could see the male was hesitant; feet shifting repeatedly and shoulders tensed.

But just as Wasabi was going to apologise for interrupting and walk away, the other had looked back up and smiled crookedly.

"That would be nice."

* * *

><p>The group waited and watched Fred gather the cards, getting ready to start a new game. Honey Lemon won the previous game, to the group's surprise.<p>

The tapping of two pairs of shoes grew near and the group of four looked up from the game, curious to whom the mystery student was. And Tadashi could feel his eyes widening in surprise.

In front of him stood Hiro standing just off the left of Wasabi, a shocked expression appearing on his features as their eyes met. Tadashi had no idea Hiro had been a student working in the lab; he'd never seen him enter or leave even if the older had been staying late to finish an upgrade on his invention.

"Hiro? You work in the lab?" all eyes were now on Tadashi, except for Honey Lemon's whose eyes were constantly watching the shorter.

"Yeah..." Hiro looked down to fiddle with his fingers, he didn't notice a tall blonde walking over until he felt a hand on his back.

"So, Hiro is it? Would you like to play?" Hiro almost gawked at her height and looked at the stack of cards, then at the group of friends.

"Don't be shy!" she had bent down now, her head almost touching his and he jumped back in surprise, " I'd be intruding," he had said and all she did was coo.

"That's alright!"

This went on for a full three minutes, Honey Lemon insisting that he play and Hiro making up excuses. Finally, they settled on the idea of Hiro watching as they played. Rather forcefully, the blonde girl had sat him down next to Tadashi. After a few rounds Hiro couldn't hold back the chuckles and giggles and soon found himself picking out cards for the older male. When he found one especially funny, he'd laugh and excitedly pull it from Tadashi's hand then show him. Unknown to the younger male, Tadashi found his childlike ways an endearing charm.

* * *

><p>Three games later and the storm was still going on strong, and fortunately for Hiro the game had been distracting him the whole time. But right now Hiro was gripping Tadashi's arm tightly as the rest of the gang were finding something to eat on the campus, and thankfully the cafeteria ladies decided to keep the cafeteria open.<p>

Tadashi was watching the television for updates on the weather and sighed as the ad break started.

"Looks like we'll be staying the night at the institute," he frowned then looked down at the clinging male, "comfortable squeezing my arm off?"

Hiro look puzzled before he looked down and instantly detached himself from the arm, "Sorry, forced habit," he moved to stand up but the older had pulled him down.

"Hiro...you look like you're troubled," staring hard at Hiro he put the younger on his lap, in which he instantly tried to twist out of his grip. Hiro had been visibly flinching the past thirty minutes during the thunder storm.

"I'm fine," he stubbornly answered and tried to pry the larger hands off from around him.

"Hiro,"

"I'm ok, really,"

"Don't avoid this,"

This time Tadashi didn't earn a stubborn reply, Hiro was clinging to him like a lifeline. And outside the storm was as strong as ever. Was Hiro...?

"Are you afraid of thunder?" Tadashi had asked slowly and he could still see Hiro flinching at any sound of thunder or a flash of lighting. Hiro didn't have to answer for Tadashi to suddenly start rubbing his back; Hiro had turned around in his act to seek comfort.

"Block it out Hiro, close your eyes. Happy thoughts," Tadashi did his best to distract Hiro; he didn't notice Gogo watching the two.

After more soft words of comfort and a little bit of rocking the smaller male, Hiro fell asleep leaning against Tadashi's shoulder.

Sighing inwardly and settling Hiro down on Fred's couch, Tadashi almost yelped a vulgarity once Gogo decided to make her presence known with a cough.

"You two would make a pretty cute couple," Gogo grinned and snapped a bubble between her teeth.

"Stop with that already, the kid needed the comforting," and although Tadashi could feel his cheeks growing hot, he still denied any form of affection towards the male. With an unconvinced hum, Gogo exited the lab to join the others in the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>With a groan Hiro sat up, the crick in his neck signalling he slept on a hard surface. He rubbed at his eyes, even though the action irritated them, and yawned. Once he let his eyes adjust to the light, he was surprised to be greeted by the familiar walls of the lab, and sleeping peacefully beside him was none other than Tadashi.<p>

Now that he wasn't as groggy, Hiro could recall what had happened the night before, how he clung so _closely _to the older male.

The mere thought was too embarrassing.

Another groan and Tadashi stirred, but still remained dead to the world. Though most would take the opportunity of spending the night to get to their classes early, the thought of ditching school for a day appealed to Hiro the most. With that in mind Hiro hurriedly left the lab, not noticing the absence of a phone in his pocket.

Before leaving the school grounds, Hiro retrieved his bag from his locker and bought a can of black coffee from one of the many vending machines on the campus. Now all he had to do was leave through the student entry and exit, sounded easy enough. Except for the fact a famous professor wanted to chat with him before he left.

"Hiro, ah I was just looking for you,"

Visibly jumping, Hiro swivelled his head to see who wanted to stop him. His body relaxed.

"Professor Callaghan," he smiled nervously, "I was just leaving, but I can talk for a little."

"Skipping school?" the professor chuckled heartily, a smile evident on his lips. Hiro rarely felt uncomfortable talking with the man, but being caught planning to leave school on a school day was a whole new scenario to the college student.

"Yeah, uh, I haven't felt well since I woke up and I was thinking a day of rest would do me well," at this excuse the, much older, man frowned.

"Now I can't have sick students, can I? Yes, that's it, go on home to rest. I'll make sure to mark you absent in any of your classes." Hiro let out a tired smile and nodded, he'd always seen the professor as a fatherly figure to all of his students.

"I'll visit you in your office tomorrow, I promise," Hiro assured him before hurrying out the buildings door and gates. Lying wasn't usually something you'd catch Hiro committing and it was very uncharacteristic of him to do it, but he wasn't a perfect being and everyone lies, right?

Lowering his head as he scanned his transport card, Hiro boarded the train.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the delay! My laptop died while I was writing and I had only saved half of what I'd written. I apologise deeply for any grammatical or spelling errors as well.**

**I put in more Hidashi in this and I assure you there will be more in chapters to come. I forgot to mention that this story is basically going to be the journey someone would usually take while falling in love, so yeah haha it's gonna be a little slow moving.**

**I'll bump the rating down a bit since I don't plan on anyone to use swears or have anything explicit soon.**

**Thank you for the reviews! They got me typing this chapter up as quick as I could!**

**Leave a review, constructive criticism is accepted.**

'**Till next update  
>-Pokann<strong>


End file.
